{"id":35422,"date":"2017-01-01T02:46:53","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T09:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=35422"},"modified":"2023-10-04T06:45:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T13:45:08","slug":"4-traits-that-most-hbs-students-share","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/4-traits-that-most-hbs-students-share\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Traits That (Most) HBS Students Share"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BUSINESS<\/a><\/p>\n

Harvard Business School admissions<\/a> doesn\u2019t just embrace diversity, they obsessively (and methodically) seek it. HBS sees diversity as essential to its learning environment\u2014the renowned \u201ccase method\u201d requires a wide variety of viewpoints to challenge and teach students.<\/p>\n

But admissions is only one part of HBS\u2019s diversity push. 900+ matriculating students are carefully sorted into 10 sections, with results that would make the Hogwart\u2019s Sorting Hat jealous. Perhaps unsurprisingly, each section has a near-perfectly balanced composition of industry background, nationality, gender, military experience<\/a> and dozens of other less obvious traits and experiences. These ultra-diverse super sections provide the opportunity to learn from (and network with) a rich portfolio of experiences and backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Despite the differences, accepted HBS candidates often share a few common, noticeable traits. HBS admissions speaks to what they are looking for<\/a> on their website, but I\u2019d like to add to the list. If you\u2019re a prospective student, here are 4 traits that may help you determine if you might fit into one of these super sections.<\/p>\n

1. Confidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

Confirmed. Plenty of confidence to go around. The joke is that you spend your first week at Harvard thinking, \u201cHow did I get in here?\u201d and the next two years feeling confident that you belong but wondering how everyone else was accepted.<\/p>\n

2. Social Grace<\/strong><\/p>\n

You probably won\u2019t be surprised (and it\u2019s well-discussed) that there are more extroverts than introverts at HBS. This leads to a culture where extroversion is almost an expectation, and an extremely active social agenda among students is almost a given. However, minority introverts and majority extroverts alike have exceptional interpersonal skills. Sit down, grab lunch, and meet a new classmate; it\u2019s likely that regardless of whom you\u2019re speaking with, the conversation will be engaging and flow effortlessly.<\/p>\n

3. Opinionated<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you visit a class at HBS, you\u2019ll see 90 students sitting on the edge of their seats ready to passionately provide their viewpoints. I loved it. I hope you witness a heated argument! Without my classmates sharing their strong opinions, my education (and entertainment) would have been severely diminished. The case method motivates a deep and broad understanding of issues. People who form and articulate sound opinions, even with limited information, thrive.<\/p>\n

4. Planner<\/strong><\/p>\n

HBS students<\/a> love \u201ctreks.\u201d A trek is simply traveling somewhere in the world with classmates, mixing fun with an optional set of business introductions or experiences. Whether you are mostly adventuring, or straight-up vacationing with your classmates, each trip comes complete with a published itinerary. You\u2019ll probably have two or three information sessions beforehand to review the dense itinerary. It\u2019s both overwhelming and fantastic. I still reach out to my classmates to get old itineraries for places I didn\u2019t visit as a student but intend to go now.<\/p>\n

What does this mean for HBS candidates<\/a>? If you are ready for a calculated, highly social, argumentative two-year trek, then Harvard may be the perfect place for you. Do you think being suffocated by those traits for two years may kill you? Well, you can survive--no super section would be complete without two or three medical students to revive you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Jaren Nichols is part of the HBS '15 graduating class. Jaren currently heads up revenue at ZipBooks<\/a>. Previous to InsideSales.com, Jaren worked for Dropcam, Nest Labs, and Google.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0HBS 2016 Grad Reflects on Her Experience as a Harvard MBA [Episode 154]<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0Harvard Business School 2017 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines<\/a>
\n\u2022 What is Harvard Business School Looking For?<\/a><\/p>\n

This article<\/a> originally appeared on\u00a0<\/em>blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/p>\n

Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will help\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>get accepted<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harvard Business School admissions doesn\u2019t just embrace diversity, they obsessively (and methodically) seek it. HBS sees diversity as essential to its learning environment\u2014the renowned \u201ccase method\u201d requires a wide variety…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[798,100,796,119],"class_list":["post-35422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","tag-applying-to-hbs","tag-harvard","tag-harvard-business-school","tag-hbs","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35422"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59017,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35422\/revisions\/59017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}